The Most Important Word to Remember for Great Communication
Posted On September 26, 2016 BY Dean Brenner
My colleagues and I always talk about the five ingredients for great communication. And those five things are as follows: Clarity, brevity, context, impact and value. Now, as you think about the last line I just wrote above, which word do you think is most important? Clarity, brevity, context, impact and value. Which of those […]
3 (First) Steps to Delivering a More Memorable Message
Posted On July 6, 2016 BY Dean Brenner
Do you want to be an effective communicator? Be more memorable? Do you want people to follow your lead, support your idea, or buy your product or service? Of course you do. When I say “be memorable,” I’m not suggesting that you do something outrageous so that they remember that crazy person who did “x.” […]
The Next Step Beyond Clarity and Brevity
Posted On June 22, 2016 BY Dean Brenner
We have shared many past posts here on the need and importance of clarity and brevity in your communications. Clarity and brevity are often the price of admission to be heard in the 21st century — table stakes — the cost to simply be able to play in the big leagues and have people listen […]
How to Recognize and Avoid Passive-Aggressive Email
Posted On April 21, 2016 BY Dean Brenner
A colleague pointed us to a recent episode from the BBC Business Matters podcast. The subject: Has email made us more passive-aggressive at work? Here’s the excerpt: Passive aggression, defined, is behavior characterized by indirect resistance to the demands of others, and an avoidance of direct confrontation. Both of which are much more easily done via […]
Soundwaves: How to Be the “No Distraction” Colleague
Posted On March 16, 2016 BY Dean Brenner
Think about how you communicate in the workplace. Not just the words you use, or doing what you say you’ll do, or meeting deadlines, or smiling and being easy to work with. Assuming those traits are all a given, what about your “brand” among your coworkers? Have you given thought to how you, personally, are […]
Brevity, According to Winston Churchill
Posted On March 7, 2016 BY Dean Brenner
My colleagues and I speak and write all the time about the importance of getting to the point. We talk about the importance of respecting your audience’s time, managing their attention span, and how our fast-paced 21st century world makes this skill a critical one. It turns out that a pretty famous guy, Winston Churchill, […]
Soundwaves: Brevity and the War on Detail
Posted On February 29, 2016 BY Dean Brenner
We talk and write often about our 5 “ingredients” in the recipe for great communication: Clarity, Brevity, Context, Impact, and Value. We also have written a few articles and blog posts about the War on Detail — the notion that details in business and communication DO matter greatly, but we should choose carefully which details we […]
Video: What Your Audience Will Never Say
Posted On February 17, 2016 BY Dean Brenner
We talk all the time in our workshops — and write all the time on our blog — about the things you’ll never hear your audience say when you speak or present. So, because we GUARANTEE your audience will never say these things, you’ll have absolutely NO reason not to be clear and simple in […]
How to Survive in a Noisy World
Posted On December 2, 2015 BY Dean Brenner
Quick thought for the day, and a theme we discuss all the time here at The Latimer Group. Wow, is it ever noisy out there! And the best way to get the attention of your colleagues, the best way to be heard, is not to yell louder. The answer is not to combat noise with […]
Great Communication as Service to Others
Posted On November 9, 2015 BY Dean Brenner
When we communicate well in the workplace — when we get to the point, when we articulate value, when we make the point clearly — what we are really doing is respecting our audience, and their time. When we do not prepare sufficiently, or make the point quickly and clearly, then what we are really […]